@dralanwager.bsky.social
Politics, public opinion and public policy at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Email: a.wager@institute.global
Graph showing Nigel Farage's net approval ratings falling since June 2025.
Nigel Farage's poll ratings have been slipping since last summer, and that's just one of three risks for Reform you find taking a close look at polling data.
Read all about those risks in the latest The Week in Polls: buff.ly/5s5X5Dc
I think it's wrong to describe the World Service as "soft power". It's actually "info power". And these days that's a very hard form of power indeed.
15.02.2026 20:05 β π 521 π 173 π¬ 16 π 3Polanski's two case studies of Labour being a right-wing party are (1) it didn't cut welfare and (2) it scrapped the two child benefit cap
13.02.2026 11:09 β π 41 π 10 π¬ 22 π 5
We may be the mother of all parliaments, but we are also a deeply flawed one. It is time to confront this truth and clean up politics once and for all
Our whole political culture must change, writes Labour MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social
NEW ANALYSIS: China's CO2 has now been 'flat or falling' for 21 months
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so farβ¦
www.carbonbrief.org/...
"Smash your thermometer and you won't have a fever" - Lech WaΕΔsa
11.02.2026 19:57 β π 67 π 23 π¬ 1 π 0The United Kingdom has allowed people who hate it and want to see it collapse control over most social media and their own TV channel. Weak and unserious.
10.02.2026 17:34 β π 106 π 24 π¬ 3 π 1
Nigel Farage yet again spouting his own prejudice above actual fact, and making your family and your work pay for itβ¦.
Multiple studies show being able to work from home boosts productivity, health and family outcomes. Donβt let him ruin your life or country by claiming otherwise.
BREAKING: Wes Streeting publishes his private WhatsApp messages with Peter Mandelson in apparent attempt to draw a line under their friendship. They reveal:
:: He feared being βtoast at the next electionβ in his Ilford North seat, adding: βThere isnβt a clear answer to the question: why Labour?β.
The Miliband "predator v producer" narrative felt too broad brush re business in the early 2010s.
However, in the age of Musk, Palantir, polluting water cos, Epstein, fossil energy lobbying, it feels like it might be about time for a dusting down.
It's interesting to me that the praxis of the political strategist class is very different from the praxis of the pollster and political scientist class (the latter two groups aren't always right, of course, but a lot of political strategy at the moment seems to be seriously wrongheaded).
07.02.2026 20:14 β π 162 π 25 π¬ 9 π 1
A good example of how strangely unpolitical this government is at times.
The Economist is fretting that trade union laws have been tilted (sharply!) back towards strengthening unions.
But is the government making an argument around this to progressive voters? No.
economist.com/britain/2026...
If rumours of another GM seat coming free are true, there is (possibly, and fortunately) still time for key people on the NEC to, quite frankly, wise up and realise they have a duty to the future of the Labour Party.
07.02.2026 12:26 β π 5 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
Hey @thetimes.com what is βracismβ - surely depicting the Obamas as monkeys is just old fashioned racism?
06.02.2026 19:38 β π 1693 π 339 π¬ 98 π 20Modest Maus
06.02.2026 09:02 β π 1840 π 191 π¬ 46 π 12
I did a piece for @brookings.edu trying to make sense of what's going on in British politics. Back to the future? British politics in 2026 www.brookings.edu/articles/bac...
05.02.2026 07:04 β π 19 π 7 π¬ 2 π 1
03.02.2026 10:43 β π 12 π 2 π¬ 1 π 2
Gervaisβs Law: celebrities should never share their political views except in a sitcom, Netflix comedy special or national arena tour where they can pretend theyβre just joking even when theyβre clearly not
03.02.2026 07:59 β π 378 π 70 π¬ 19 π 2The revelations regarding Lord Mandelson are indefensible. Yet I fear they will also not surprise or shock as many as they should given the toxicity that now infects our body politic and its working cultures.
1/2
Why has Peter Mandelson held such clout in so many Labour administrations?
On the day Starmer suggests he should no longer be a peer, listen to @pippacrerar.bsky.social and I explain his political power.
www.theguardian.com/politics/aud...
Chuffed, excited and a little scared to be starting what, if was was young, Iβd call an βexciting new chapterβ complete with middle aged look.
02.02.2026 14:32 β π 147 π 9 π¬ 18 π 2Freedom is not free, the slogan goes,
Note that new Dutch govt intends to fund part of its defence and security ramp up with a "freedom contributionβ, ie income tax levy, raising more than β¬3 billion a year.
That is brave for modern politics. But the right choice IMHO.
Just a reminder that my new book on the Blair years is in the @manchesterup.bsky.social SALE right now - and it's only Β£12 in hardback! You've got until Saturday night to snap up the bargain...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526146328/
This is just such a funny quirk on this site. Tons of people are using AI. The genie is out of the bottle and it's not going anywhere
29.01.2026 08:41 β π 25 π 3 π¬ 3 π 0
Tell me again how this BBC editorialising is just my cognitive bias... This isn't a quote from anywhere. It's just the BBC's description of this disgraced, divisive politician.
28.01.2026 13:16 β π 1137 π 337 π¬ 83 π 23
This is quite the high street data tool www.theguardian.com/business/ng-...
28.01.2026 10:48 β π 1 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0Business rate relief for pubs and music venues will be welcomed across Walthamstow - many are much loved local institutions. But so too are our cafes, restaurants and even soft play centres that also need the same help with running costs. share this to support hospitality venues for all ages!
27.01.2026 20:43 β π 16 π 5 π¬ 3 π 1More members of Liz Truss's cabinet are in Reform than in Badenoch's shadow cabinet...
26.01.2026 13:12 β π 1614 π 495 π¬ 66 π 47Sure, but the NEC are the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party and the question they had to answer was what was best for the Labour Party.
Luckily for all of us, the voters will pass judgement.
